Truck hanger suspension



w. VAN DER sLUYs 2,483,858

TRUCK HANGER SUSPENSION Oct. 4, 1949.

Filed Deo. 11, 1944 3 Sheets-Sheet l I n D Oct. 4, 1949. w. VAN DER sLuYs TRUCK HANGER SUSPENSION 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 11, 1944 I N VEN TOR.

06%. 4, 1949. v W- VAN DER sLUYs v 2,483,858

TRUCK HANGER SUSPENS ION Filed Dec. 11, 1944 3 sheets-sheet s IN VEN TOR.

Patented Oct. 1949 TRUCK HANGER SUSPENSICN William Van Der Sluys, Detroit, Mich., assignor to Chrysler Corporation, Highland Park, Mich., a corporation of Delaware Application December 11, 1944, serial No. 567,573

17 Claims. (Cl. 10S-191) This invention relates to the provision of means in a railway car truck controlling unsquaring of the truck. More specically it relates to controlling unsquaring of a railway truck through the mounting of a spring plank.

the other side frame.

the side frames.

ing action.

swing plank for this purpose.

dinally to the opposite side frame.

frames of the railway car truck.

of the truck.

cushion vertical shocks imposed thereon. Also,

the swing hangers may be mounted at about axle level in the side member, and the legs oi the swing hanger need not be decreased in length.

Other objects will appear from the disclosure.

Adjacent Between the trian- Extensions 21? 5 In the drawings:

In a railway car truck there is always the prob- Fig. 1 is a side view, partially in section, of the lem of controlling unsquaring of the truck, i. e., novel railway truck of the present invention; the tendency of one side frame to run ahead of Fig. 2 is a plan view of the novel railway truck;

In conventional freight Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line truck constructions this has not been properly l 3-3 of Fig. 2; l controlled either by connection of the truck side Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line frames with the axle journal boxes or by associ- 4-4 of Fig. l; ation of the truck bolster or spring plank with Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 5-5 I propose to employ a construcof Fig.`3; and

tion in which the side frames carry a spring Fig. 6 is a. plan view of one end of the plank plank directly by means oi swing hangers in used with the railway truck of the present insuch a manner that the hangers and plank elasvention. tically resist unsquaring but are permitted to twist The novel railway car truck of the present insuiliciently to provide a limited relative longituvention includes equalizer members or side dinal movement of side frames and self-restorframes lll having bearings ll journalling the ends of a pair of axles I2 supported on wheels i3.

An object of the present invention is to provide Each side frame lll has at its ends housing poran improved railway car truck having means for tions l@ containing the bearings ll. controlling unsquaring of the truck. This may the housing portions l are portions l5 having involve the employment oi swing hangers and a top and bottom, which diverge in a direction from the housing portions M so that they are gen- Another object is to provide, in a device of the erally triangular in shape. character described, in connection with a novel gular portions l5 is an intermediate portion i6 mounting means for bolster and spring plank, a of rectangular shape. The side frame l0 is of a torsion means for returning the side frames to truss-type construction, the triangular portions square relation, should a force applied to one having triangular openings l1, and the interside frame cause it to move relatively longitumediate rectangular portion I6, a rectangular opening I8. The upper side of the side frame lll A further object is to provide improvements in is of rectangular box-like construction as mdp a lailWay car truck having Swing hangers and a cated by the reference character I9 in Fig. 3, the spring plank. The spring plank may be supsame being true of the lower sides of the trianported by swing hangers directly carried on side guiar portions I5. The lower side of the intermediate portion I6 is of channel shape as in- Another object is to make improvements in a dicated at 20 in Fig. 3. The upper side of the swing hanger and its mounting. The mounting side frame may be termed a compression memmay provide for carrying the swing hanger diber, and the lower side a tension member. rectly in a side frame of a railway car truck. Extending transversely of the truck through Still another object is the provision of an imthe openings IB in the side frames Ill is a plank proved freight car truck and more specifically, 2|. A bolster 22 is mounted on the plank 2l a truck having means for controlling unsquaring by resilient means to be described presently. The

. 4bolster extends transversely through the open- A still further object is to provide a railway ings I8 in the side frames I0 and has a center truck in which the base of a swing hanger is pobearing 23 at an intermediate region. The plank sitioned within anges at the lower part of the 2l is supported upon U-shaped swing hangers side member and movable between the anges, 50 26, which have legs 25 and a base 26. yThe bases whereby, without increase in depth of the side 26 of the hangers 24 t ingrooves 21 formed in frame, the springs for supporting the bolster 'can the lower side of the plank 2l. be suillciently long to provide a yielding support at the-sides of the plank 2l as indicated in Fig. 6 giving to the bolster the desired movement to also have the groove 21 so that the groove is of considerable length. The engagement of the bases 26 with the grooves 21 is such as to provide relative angular movement between the swing hangers 24 and the plank 2| about the bases 26 as axes and to prevent shifting or angular displacement of the bases of the hangers relative to the plank and transverse of the side frames I0. The ends of the legs of the swing hangers 24 have openings provided with bearing sleeves 28, through which extend mounting members 29, having intermediate circular bearing regions mounted in the bearing sleeves 28 and terminal non-circular regions 3| fitting in correspondingly shaped openings 32 in the side frames I0. Fig. 4 shows the shape of the regions 3| and the openings 32. For each mounting member 29 one opening 32 is formed in a vertical transverse wall 33, extending from the top of the side frame III to the bottom thereof and marking one end of the central rectangular portion I6 of the side frame. The other opening 32 for each mounting member 29 is formed in a vertical transverse portion 34, which as seen in Fig. 2 is arcuate in transverse section. A portion bridges the space between the portion 34 and the wall 33. The wall 33 and the portions 34 and 35 constitute a column extending between the top tension member I9 and the bottom compression member 20 of the side frame I0. The non-circular ends 3| on the mounting members 29 and the non-circular openings 32 receiving the ends prevent rotative or lateral movement of the mounting members. The swing hangers 24 can swing about the central bearing portions 30 as axes. When this happens, there is angular movement of the swing hangers 24 about the bases 26 as axes with respect to the plank 2 I. Thus the plank may move transversely with respect to the side frames I0. It will be noted that the swing hanger base lies in the U of the lower tension member 2|)l of the side frame. This enables the pivot axes of the hangers, i. e., the pivot pins 30 mounted in the side frame to be relatively low, i. e., slightly lower than the axes of the wheels I3, with the advantage of stability in the truck. By locating swing-hanger bases between the flanges of the tension members of the 4 side frames, the springs for supporting the bolster can be sufliciently long to provide a yielding support giving to the bolster the desired movement to cushion vertical shocks imposed thereon. Moreover, in event of failure of the swing hanger the plank need descend only a short distance to the tension member 20 to rest safe thereon, and the base of the swing hanger may be retained within the tension member.

However, angular movement of the plank 2| about vertical axes through the side frames III with respect to the side frames is resisted, because similar movement of the swing hangers 24 with respect to the plank 2| is prevented through engagement of the bases 26 of the swing hangers with the grooves 21 in the plank 2|, and similar rnovement of the swing hangers with respect to :he side frames is prevented by the mounting members 29. Angular movement of theplank 2| about vertical axes through the side frames is re- ;iliently resisted, for the legs 25 of the hangers Z4 may shift angularly with respect to one another about the base portion 26 as an axis by causing twisting of the base portion itself within the elastic limit. A small angular movement of :he plank 2| results and this permits a limited amount of movement of one side frame I0 in the direction of its length with respect to the other side oi the truck. This is known as unsquaring [t occurs when the car truck is traveling on a curve, or when one side of the truck is subjected to a longitudinal impact. turns to straight track, the slde frames I0 must return to their original relative position, and this takes place, because the twisting of the bases 26 of the hangers 24 occurs entirely within the elastic limit.

As previously stated, the bolster 23 is resiliently mounted on the plank 2 I. The means for accomplishing this will now be described. Each end of the plank 2| has formed therein four shallow recesses or seats 36. Mounted in the seats 36 are four sets of springs, each set being composed of an outer cylindrical spring 31 and an inner cylindrical spring 38. An intermediate member 39 rests on the upper ends of the springs 31 and 38 and has four seats on its lower side receiving the said upper ends. A sheet metal plate 40 rests on the upper side of the intermediate member 39 and has pressed-out portions 4| fitting in recesses in the member 39 for locating the plate 40 with respect to the member 39 and anges 42 and struckout portions 43 forming spring seats. These seats receive four sets of springs, each set comprising an outer conical spring 44 and an inner conical spring 45. As seen in Figs. 2 and 3, two sets of conical springs have their large ends up, and two sets of conical springs have their large ends down.

This arrangement enables the four sets of conical springs to occupy a minimum of space. The upper ends of the conical springs are received in seats 46 formed on the underside of the end of the bolster 22. From the foregoing description it will be apparent that the ends of the bolster 22 are mounted on the ends of the swing plank 2| by means of conical springs and cylindrical springs, the conical springs being in series with the cylindrical springs. The conical springs have a varying rate of deiiection that increases with the amount of closing of the springs and approaches innity as the closing of the springs approaches completeness. The reason for the change in the rate of the deflection is that the deflection and closing of the spring moves progressively from the large end toward the small end because the resistance to deection is smaller the greater the coil diameter for a given thickness of the spring bar. The active coils become fewer and of smaller diameter. The cylindrical springs have a constant rate of deection throughout their deflection. The conical springs and cylindrical springs are so proportioned that deflection with light loading begins with all coils of the conical springs and the cylindrical springs operating, and as the load increases, the coils of the conical springs close, beginning at the large ends and progressing toward the small ends thereof until a condition of a complete closing of the conical springs is reached, at which point deection of the cylindrical springs only remains effective. This series arrangement of conical and cylindrical springs is ideally suited to freight cars, in which the loading may vary considerably from empty to full. If relatively stii cylindrical springs were used, they would provide a good mounting for heavy loads, but a poor one for light loads. If relatively soft springs were used so that a good mounting might be had for light loads, then in order to accommodate a heavy load the deflection would be so great as to exceed permissible variation in height of the car body and couplers. Thus a conical spring would apparently provide suiiicient resilience at light loads without too great a deflection to accommodate heavy loads, since the greater deflection rate with in- When the truck re.

Engaging the concave side of each portion 34 is a Ishoe 41, curved on one side and fiat on the other side. The curved side engages the portion 34, and the at side, the bolster 22. The shoe 41 is retained in place at the portion 34 by flanged projections 48 and 49 that engage shoulders 50 will be seen that the bolster slides on the at sides of the shoes 41 as the plank moves transversely through swinging of the hangers 24. When the plank 2| and the bolster 22 pivot with respect to the side frames ID upon limited unsquaringbf the side frames permitted by the elastic twisting of thebases 26 of the hangers 24, the arcuate sides of the shoes 41 slide upon the portions 34 of the `side frames. This also takes place as the sideframes adjust themselves from unsquared condition to squared condition. Since the shifting of the side frames il) between squared and unsquared condition takes place as a result of the elasticity oi the U-shaped hangers 24, there may be shimmy set up in the parts, and this is prevented bythe sliding contact of the arcuate sides of the shoes 41 with the portions 34 of the side frames |D. The shoes 41 and portions 34 act in eiect like shock absorbers or dampers and also provide adequate area of contact between the bolster and the side frame.

Figs. 3 and 5 shows a special type of snubber or shock absorber 5|a for the springs 31, 38, 44, and 45. There is one at each side of the truck inside of each side frame I0. Integrally formed with each end of the bolster 22 is a housing 52, to opposite inner sides of which are attached wear strips 53, 54 of hard material, capable of replacement when wear takes place. The strip 53 is engaged by a long narrow wedge-like shoe 55. The strip 54 is engaged by a short hollow wedge-like shoe 56. Faces of the shoes 55 and 56, inclined to the vertical direction, in which the strips 53 and 54 extend, engage one another. The inside of the shoe 56 receives one end of a long inner` coil spring 51, the other end of which receives a projectionv 58 depending from the inside of the housing 52. The projection has an opening 59. An

Aouter coil spring 6|) surrounds the spring 51 and engages the upper end of the hollow shoe 56 and the inside of the. housing 52. The shoe 55 has a wide base 6| extending transversely and longitudinally of the truck beyond the body of the shoe as indicated in Figs. 3 and 5. As shown in Fig. 5 the base is mounted in rubber members 63 and 64. The rubber members are held against the `under side of flanges 65 formed on the plank 2| by means of a block 66. The block 66 has three depending flanges 61 through which extends a bolt 68 holding up the block l66. The bolt 68 has a wedge-like head 69 fitting in a correspondingly shaped opening in a fiange 10 formed on the plank 2|. The opposite end of the bolt passes through a flange 1| on the plank 2|, and nut 12 on that end of the bolt 68 retains the bolt in place. A Washer 13 is between the nut 12 and and 5| formed at the at side of the shoe 41. It

the flange 1|. The inclined faces of the shoes 55 and 56 cause an increase in friction of the y shock absorber as the deflection increases from any position of loading. This is in accordance with the increase in the rate of deflection provided by the coil springs 44 and 45. As the deection increases, the hollow shoe 56 moves upwardly against the springs 51 and 60, thus increasing the pressure and the friction as required.

As seen in Fig. 3, there is formed on the left end of the spring plank 2|, an integral upstanding ange 14 slightly spaced from the housing 52 depending from the bolster 22. The arrangement is such that the bolster may move to the left, as .seen in Fig. 3, transversely of the side frames, relative to the plank to the extent permitted by the space between the housing 52 and the flange 14. Thereafter conjoint movement of the bolster and spring plank to the left takes place. A relative movement and conjoint movement of the plank and bolster to the right takes place by virtue of the flange 14 on the right end of the plank and the housing 52 at the right end of the bolster.

The term side member as used in the claims is intended to cover either an equalizer member or a side frame.

I claim:

1. A railway truck comprising a pair of spaced parallel sidemembers, a pair of U-shaped swing hangers, a first set of mounting members spaced `in alignment longitudinal of one side member and supporting the ends of the legs of one swing hanger upon an axis longitudinal of the said one side member for providing angular movement of the said one swing hanger about the said axis and preventing shifting -or angular` displacement of the mounting members transverse of the said one side member, a second set of mounting members associated with the other swing hanger and the other side member in similar fashion, and a plank resting on the bases of the U-shaped hangers and associated therewith so as to provide angular movement of the plank with respect to the bases of the -hangers about the bases of the hangers as axes and to prevent shifting orA angular displacement of the bases of the hangers relative to the plank and transverse of the side members, the plank, the hangers, and the mounting members providing transverse swinging of the plank with respect to the side members and substantial resistance to unsquaring of the side members and constituting the only means for this purpose; relative angular movement between the legs of the hangers resultingvfrom elastic twisting of the bases of the hangers being suliicient to provide limited runsquaring of the side members.

2. A railway truck comprising a pair of spaced parallel side members, a pair ofswing hangers,

means mounting one swing hanger upon one side member for providing movement with respect thereto about an axis longitudinal thereof and preventing shifting of the portions of the said one swing hanger associated with the mounting means transverse of the said one side member, means mounting the other swing hanger in similar fashion upon the other side member, and a plank supported upon the swing hangers on mountings providing angular movement of the bases of the swing hangers with respect to the plank about axes longitudinal of the side members and displaced from the axes of the swing hangers upon the side members and preventing shifting or angular displacement of the axes of the plank and the swing hangers relative to the plank and transverse of the side members, the relative movement between the swing hangers and the side members and between the plank and the swing hangers about the axes providing transverse swinging of the plank with respect to the side members, the prevention of transverse shifting of the portions of the swing hangers associated with the mounting means and the prevention o transverse shifting or angular displacement of the axes of the swing hangers on the plank relative to the plank providing substantial resistance to unsquaring of the side members and constituting the only cause for this, rela tive angular movement between the legs of the hangers resulting from elastic twisting of the bases of the hangers being suflicient to provide limited unsquaring of the side members.

3. A railway truck comprising a pair of spaced axles, a pair of spaced parallel side members connecting the axles, a pair of U-shaped swing hangers having relatively short legs, a rst set of mounting members spaced in alignment longitudinal of one side member at the approximate level of the axles and supporting the ends of the legs of one swing hanger upon an axis longitudinal of the said one side member for providing angular movement of the said one swing hanger about the said axis and preventing shifting or angular displacement of the mounting members transverse of the said one side member, a second set of mounting members associated with the other swing hanger and the other side member in similar fashion, and a plank resting on the bases of the U-shaped hangers and associated therewith so as to provide angular movement of the plank with respect to the bases of the hangers about the bases of the hangers as axes and to prevent shifting or angular displacement of the bases of the hangers relative to the plank and transverse of the side members, the plank, the hangers, and the mounting members providing transverse swinging of the plank with respect to the side members and substantial resistance to unsquaring of the side members and constituting the only means for this purpose, relative angular movement between the legs of the hangers resulting from elastic twisting of the bases of the hangers being suilicient to provide limited unsquaring of the side members.

4. A railway truck comprising a pair of spaced side members, a pair of swing hangers, means mounting the swing hangers on the side members, a plank extending between the swing hangers, means mounting the plank on the swing hangers so as to provide angular movement of the plank with respect to the portions of the swing hangers upon which the plank is mounted, the swing hangers, both mounting means, and the plank resisting unsquaring of the truck and constituting the only means for this purpose, elastic deformation of the swing hangers providing limited unsquaring of the truck, and a bolster mounted on the plank so as to be free of any association with the side members tending to prevent unsquaring of the truck.

5. A railway truck comprising a pair of spaced side members, swing hangers, means mounting the swing hangers on the side members so as to prevent movement of the mounted portions of the swing hangers in a direction transverse of the side members, a plank, means mounting the plank on the swing hangers, and a bolster mounted on the plank in the side members and being free of any association with the side members tending to prevent unsquaring of the truck, the swing hangers, both mounting means, and the plank preventing substantial unsquaring of the truck and constituting the only means for this purpose, elastic deformation of the swing hangers providing limited unsquaring of the truck.

6. A railway truck comprising a pair of spaced axles, a pair of spaced side members connecting the axles and being free of transverse ties tending to prevent tilting of the side members, swing hangers, means mounting the swing hangers on the side members at approximately the level of the axles in such a Way as to prevent movement of the mounted portions of the swing hangers in a direction transverse of the side members, a plank, means mounting the plank on the swing hangers, and a bolster mounted on the plank in the side members and being free of any association with the side members tending to prevent unsquaring of the truck, the swing hangers, both mounting means, and the plank preventing substantial unsquaring of the truck and constituting the only means for this purpose, elastic deformation of the swing hangers providing limited unsquaring of the truck.

7. A railway truck comprising a pair of spaced side members, swing hangers, means mounting the swing hangers on the side members so as to prevent movement of the mounted portions of the swing hangers in a direction transverse of the side members, body-supporting means, means mounting the body-supporting means on the swing hangers, the swing hangers, both mounting means, and the body-supporting means preventing substantial unsquaring of the truck and constituting the only means for this purpose, the body-supporting means being free of any association with the side members tending to prevent unsquaring except by way of the swing hangers and both mounting means.

8. In a car truck of the type having a pair of spaced side frames, each with a window opening defined by longitudinally spaced columns joined by a top compression member and a bottom tension member, the combinationvof, a bolster extending transversely of said truck, the end portions of said bolster being received in the said window openings, a spring plank positioned beneath said bolster, springs interposed between the adjacent ends of said spring plank and bolster, said tension members beneath said window openings being substantially U-shaped in section with the space between the side ilanges thereof opening upwardly, and means swingingly mounted on each side frame and interposed between the anges of the adjacent tension member for supporting said spring plank.

9. A railway truck comprising a pair of spaced side members each having an intermediate portion of upwardly opening, U-shaped cross-sectional configuration, swing hangers each having legs and a base, means mounting said swing hangers on the side members so as to prevent movement of the mounted portions of the swing hangers in a direction transverse of the side members, the swing hanger bases being posi` tioned within the space between the side ilanges of the U-shaped intermediate portions of the side members and being movable therebetween, a plank, means mounting the plank on the swing hangers, and a bolster mounted on the plank and being free of any association with the side members tending to' prevent unsquaring of the truck, the swing hangers, both mounting means, and the plank preventing substantial unsquaring of the truck and constituting the only means for this purpose, elastic deformation of the swing hangers providing limited unsquaring of the truck.

10. A railway truck comprising a pair of spaced axles, a pair of spaced side members supported on said axles and being free of transverse ties tending to prevent tilting of the side members about the supporting axles, each side frame having a central lower portion formed as an upwardly opening U-shaped member adapted to receive a portion of a swing hanger, swing hangers having legs and bases, the base of each swing hanger being positioned in the U-shaped opening of the associated side member and movable with respect thereto, means mounting the swing hangers on the side members at approximately the level of the axles in such a way as to prevent movement of the mounted portions of the swing hangers in a direction transverse of the side members, a plank, means mounting the plank on the swing hangers. and a bolster mounted on the plank and being free of any association with the side members tending to prevent unsquaring ofthe truck, the swing hangers, both mounting mea-ns, and the plank tending to prevent unsquaring of the truck and constituting the only means for this purpose` elastic deformation of the swing hangers providing limited unsquaring of the truck.

11. In a railway truck, a pair of spaced side members. swing hangers mounted inthe side members, a plank resting on the swing hangers and extending through openings in the side members, a bolster positioned over the plank, springs positioned at the regions where the plank crosses the side members and supporting the bolster on the plank, depending projections on the bolster inward of and adjacent the springs, and upstanding projections on the plank inward of and adspaced horizontally apart and arranged to conprevent movement of the mounted portions of the base portions transversely of side members yet preventing displacement of the hanger leg pivot portions transversely of the side members, and a load supporting member extending between and mounted on the swing hanger base portions for pivotal movement relative to the hanger base portions, the swing hangers, the mounting means therefor, the load supporting member and the means mounting it on the swing hanger base portions preventing substantial unsquaring of the side members and constituting the only means for this purpose, relative movement between the legs of the swing hangers resulting from elastic deformation of the swing hanger legs and base portions being suiiicient to provide for limited unsquaring of the side members.

14. In a railway truck comprising a pair of spaced side members, a pair of swing hangers, means mounting a swing hanger on each of the side members for transverse pivotal movement relative thereto, a load supporting member extending between and mounted on the swing hangers, the mountings between the load supporting member and the swing hangers providing for pivotal movement of the load supporting member with respect to the portions of the s wing hangers on which it is mounted but preventing relative transverse movement therebetween, the swing hangers, the mounting means between the swing hangers and the side members and the mounting means between the swing hangers and the load supporting member, and the load supporting member resisting unsquaring of the side members and constituting the only means for this purpose, elastic deformation of the swing hangers providing forlimited unsquaring of the side members.

l5. In a railway truck comprising a pair of spaced axles, a pair of spaced, substantially parallel, side members connecting the axles, a pair of substantially U-shaped swing hangers, each swing hanger comprising a base portion connected to spaced legs, means mounting the swing hanger legs on the side members on pivot axes swing hangers in a direction transverse of the side members, a plank, means mounting the plank on the swing hangers, a bolster mounted .on the plank in the side members and being free of any association with the side members tending to prevent unsquaring of the truck, the swing hangers, both mounting means, and the plank preventing substantial unsquaring of the truck and constituting the only means for this purpose, elastic deformation of the swing hangers providing limited unsquaring of the truck, a depending projection on the bolster, and an upstanding prolection on the plank, the projections beingarranged to contact after a limited amount of relative movement between plank and bolster transverse of the side members and thereafter t0 Droduce conjoint movement of plank and bolster.

13. In a railway truck comprising a pair of spaced, substanially parallel, side members, a pair of swing hangers, each swing hanger including a pair of spaced legs joined together by a base portion, means pivotally mounting the legs of a swing hanger on each side member with the pivot axes extending longitudinally of the side member so as to permit movement of the hanger extending longitudinally of the side members at the approximate level of the axles to positively `prevent displacement of the swing hanger leg pivot portions transversely of the side members, and a plank extending between and mounted on the swing hanger base portions by mountings providing pivotal movement of the plank with respect tothe swing hanger base portions, the swing hangers and the plank preventing substantial unsquaring of the side members and constituting the only means for this purpose, relative angular movement between the legs of the swing hangers resulting from elastic twisting of the hangers being suilicient to provide for limited unsquaring of the side members.

16. In a railway truck comprising a pair of spaced side members supported on a pair of spaced transversely extending axles, each side member including a longitudinally extending, centrally disposed, upwardly opening, channelshaped portion located at the lower region of the side member, a pair of swing hangers, each hanger comprising a base portion and a pairof spaced legs, means at the approximate level of the axles for pivotally mounting the legs of a swing hanger on each side member for transverse swinging movement relative thereto, a portion of each swing hanger base being positioned within the opening between the sides of the channelshaped portion of the associated side member. and a load supporting member connected between and mounted on the swing hanger bases, the arrangement of the connected swing hanger bases within the channel-shaped portions of the side members preventing loss of the swing hangers in the event of failure of the swing hanger mounting means and also permitting a lowering of the pivot mountings for the swing hangers to positions substantially aligned with a longitudinally extending plane connecting the axles without a corresponding reduction in length of the swing hanger legs.

17. In a railway truck comprising a pair of spaced side members, a pair of swing hangers, means mounting a swing hanger on each side member for transverse pivotal movement relative thereto, a load supporting member extending between the swing hangers and mounted thereon for pivotal movement relative thereto about axes extending transversely of the load supporting member, the swing hangers, the mounting means therefor, the load supporting member and the mounting means between the swing hangers and the load Isupporting member cooperating to,

12 resist unsquaring of the side members and constituting the only means on the truck adapted to accomplish this function, elastic deformation of the swing hangers permitting limited unsquaring of the side members.

WILLIAM VAN DER SLUYS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the ille oi tnis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

